California Biographies, San Bernardino County and Riverside County
History of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties
By: John Brown, Jr., Editor for San Bernardino County
And James Boyd, Editor for Riverside County
With selected biography of actors and witnesses of the period
of growth and achievement.
Volume III, the Western Historical Association, 1922,
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
RALPH F. BURNHAM.
Of Ralph F. Burnham, of Riverside, it may be said that he is one of his
community's fortunate men. He is fortunate in having a good parentage, a fair
endowment of intellect and feeling, a liberal education, in attaching himself
to a healthful and honorable vocation, and, above all, fortunate in casting his
lot with the people of Riverside at a time when its enterprises were at the
full tide of development, and under circumstances which have enabled him
to co-operate in her material growth without that engrossment of time and
faculty which hinders the fullest indulgence of the intellectual faculty, the
refining and elevating influences of the aesthetic nature, and the kindly
cultivation of the graces of social and private life. While he has borne a fair
share of the labors of civic life, he has at the same time preserved his love
of letters, his pursuit of manly and invigorating pastimes, and his indulgence
in the amenities of a refined and gentle life. Mr. Burnham was born at Batavia,
Illinois, March 6, 1883, a son of William H. and Catherine (French) Burnham,
the former a native of Connecticut, and the latter of Illinois. William H. Burnham
was a manufacturer at Batavia for a number of years, and when he retired from
business affairs removed to Orange, California, whence he subsequently went
to Los Angeles, his present home. Both he and his wife are living, as are their
three children: Ralph F.; Mary, the wife of Henry O. Wheeler, of Los Angeles;
and William H, Jr., of Riverside. Ralph F. Burnham commenced his education
in the public schools of Batavia, Illinois, and was still a lad when taken by his
parents to Orange, California. There he completed his primary school educa-
tion, subsequently pursuing a course at the California Polytechnic Institute,
Pasadena, California, and later at Columbus University, New York City. After
his graduation from the latter, as a member of the class of 1904, he returned
to California and engaged in the manufacture of automobiles at Los Angeles,
where for eight years he was secretary of the Auto Vehicle Company. When
he vacated this field it was to enter the insurance business at Los Angeles,
but in April, 1912, he gave up this line and came to Riverside, where he and
his father and his brother purchased 142 acres of valuable land three miles
southeast of the city, of which they are devoting 120 acres to citrus fruit
ranching. Mr. Burnham has made a success of his activities and is accounted
one of the highly skilled and well informed men in his line of business. He is a
director in the United States Supply Company of Omaha, Nebraska. Politically
Mr. Burnham is a republican. He is a member of the Los Angeles Athletic
Club, the University Club of Los Angeles, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, the
Riverside Victoria Club, the Alpha Delta Phi College Fraternity, the Alpha
Delta Phi Club of New York City, the Riverside Chamber of Commerce, and
the Riverside Polo Club. Worthy civic, educational and charitable movements
have always had his hearty support, and he was one of the substantial
contributors to the building fund of the new hospital at Riverside. On October
16, 1905, Mr. Burnham was united in marriage with Miss Ruth Wilson,
daughter of Franklin I. and May (Allen) Wilson, of Chicago, Illinois, the former
a native of Elgin, Illinois, and the latter of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Mr. Wilson,
a manufacturer, upon retirement from active life removed to Hollywood, Cal-
ifornia, where he died, his widow now being a resident of Los Angeles, this
state. Mrs. Burnham was born at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, but as a child was
taken to Chicago, where she received her education in the public schools and
at Lewis Institute. She is a member of the Riverside Victoria Club. She and
her husband are the parents of four children: Barbara, John W., Richard W.,
and Elizabeth L.
Pages 1111 to 1112.
Transcribed and submitted by Sally Kaleta, February 2010.